North Carolina vs. Butler: Not as impressed with McAdoo as I expected to be. He's like Blake Griffin without the explosion. I have a hard time seeing him as anything more than an NBA role player. He also resembles Thomas Robinson, for better and worse. UNC has a ton of fringe NBA talent. Any one of their wings might stick for a few years in the NBA, if the situation is right. It's going to be a very weak draft.
Georgetown vs. Indiana: Zeller wasn't as dominant as I assumed he would be based off his draft projection. However, he is a very solid and fundamental 7 footer. He doesn't really have a hole in his game, however there just isn't a skill set there that would lend him to be anything more than a fluid version of Marcin Gortat. Victor Oladipo somewhat impressed me. He's really quick with a nice bounce. He's be an undersized wing, but plays bigger than his height. He's like a cross between Avery Bradley and Leandro Barbosa. He's very quick and athletic at 6'4". Once his 3 point shot is consistent, he will find his way into an NBA rotation. Georgetown has two prototypical NBA small forwards. Otto Porter is perhaps the best player I've seen in college so far. He's 6'8", but plays everywhere. He can handle and shoot, but also rebound and block. Greg Whittington is also about 6'8" and he's got lockdown defender written all over him. His feet are ridiculously quick for his size and he's got a sick wingspan. His offense is pretty much limited to catch and shoot 3's and one-dribble drives to the hoop.
New York vs. New Orleans: I wonder if this Anthony Davis hurt thing is going to be a pattern? Carmelo was sensational. The Knicks have a very simple strategy to win ball games. The early part of the game is about getting Carmelo going. After Carmelo is hot, they keep going to him, until you are forced to double. By the way Carmelo is setting up shop much closer to the basket than he ever has in his career. For a good portion of the first half he was putting on a post up clinic. After you are forced to double, New York starts to rain three pointers on you from Kidd, Novak, Felton, Smith, etc. The only team that beat them this year, made the Carmelo play defense against a real big man (Memphis). Rasheed Wallace is at least 80% of his 2008 self. He's seriously the Knicks second best option for isolation. Sheed is more willing to post than he has his whole career. You're also getting great defense with Wallace. In all, Sheed may be the cheapest most underrated free agent pick up of the season. He will be really valuable come playoff time.
Brooklyn vs Los Angeles: Kobe looks younger this year. I think I said the same last year at the start of the season. He is shooting the ball really well. The Lakers struggled to defend in this game. As you might have guessed the problem was largely, Deron Williams vs. Darius Morris (or any Laker pg). The Lakers are still not running any plays. They're definitely making a point to set ball screens, but after that I don't see any structure. HOwever, they still look better than they did under Brown. I would assume it takes a month or two to get D'antoni's system humming. Nash won't hurt either.
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